I shot about 35 minutes of footage, about 6 up and down flights. No thermals as it was late in the day the afternoon showers had just passed. I have some looping footage and some better footage of circling over my head (the trick is keeping a point on the ground stationary), but this flight was a good compromise for a short clip. I'm really hoping to shoot some long thermal flights (ideally with hawks). Haven't seen any online of a whole flight from start to finish.

I really need to work on flying technique and keeping the video smooth and fluid. That's easier with sailplanes, and how they should be flown anyway.

Your critique is appreciated and welcome. Please chime in with your advice any time on my facebook page or my blog here. I'm getting really interested in this perspective and expert guidance can only help.

Tom, and Kev
I have used it now for 6 months and really like MEP 17 + and thir support staff a lot .. I don't use the fancy stuff in it.. but the work flow from start to YT Post is quick and easy now. I clip out a lot of stuff, and it keeps the sound and video in sync well.. simply Dragging an overlap between clips instantly fades the two in a blend that is just fine..etc.. I saw it at Fry's again the other day with a $50 off coupon but I doubt there are Fry's Electronics stores in AU..

Thanks Jim. Nice to hear you get good support from them - makes a big difference.
BTW I haven't done any video myself yet since retiring! Waiting to get the #11. Then I have to get back in the air again - 4 more weeks to go on crutches after a foot op.

Yeah! Like the Egg on Vacation. There is no doubt about it a copter is just a fantastic platform for video! How about when you saw that boat on the water - next time go out and circle around him. Watch his reactions. Also it was fun to see reactions from people you flew buy. Why not circle around them from a safe height?

Getting closer to what I want with this one. Still working on smoothing of flight technique, and waiting for that big, long duration thermal flight. Still need to remove timestamp. Forgot to null out the sound so......

Enjoyed that Jumpy! Hey, you were really working the lift from that ploughed field eh?

So this video has a purpose as they all should "working a thermal" And the footage shown is all that's needed. Perhaps a title "Working Thermals" tells the viewer what to look for & realise it's not just to show scenery.

Tom,
I'd like to try help you fixit.. but off the top know of no corrupted .mov fixit utility for a Win PC either.. one would think that all the info needed to start playing any .mov or AVI would need to be present and written Ok at the Beginning of the file itself .. but when I have had issues, (say the plane landed in the water, or the cam battery died) after a normal recording start.. I never had any luck recovering the saved portion of the file later either... Does anyone know the .mov file format spec? what does a player really need to start playing the file anyway? JimS

I've been able to repair broken (imterrupted/incomplete) .AVI files by overwriting the initial header with one from a longer good clip. I tried a few cut/write operations from/to a good .MOV file to/from the corrupted one, and got one that would actually start playing, but the portion from the corrupted file had a blank gray screen for video. The good portion video started playing OK once that portion was reached, though. So I think maybe if I find the right cut point offset, I might get it to work.

I think I once read the .MOV header info is either constantly updated as a recording is in progress, and/or when the file is closed, so the structure may not be there when the card was rudely ejected during the recording.

Great tips, Berkie... something I had thought of mentioning once, but never got around to it.

Things we frequently see that if simply trimmed/edited out can make a video much more enjoyable to watch:

The dinking around before the flight getting the battery hooked up, checking controls, walking to the flight line etc. etc. The video should begin as the plane is starting it's takeoff.
Depends on the audience. If to be shown to other pilots prep should not be shown, but if it's for friends & pilots it's OK but should be short & sharp. No waving the camera around between shots. With ground shots it's best to EDIT IN CAMERA i.e, frame your shot first, then shoot, then cut before framing up the next shot. Then there is very little editing to do.

Ditto for the dinking around at the end retrieving the plane, disconnecting power, etc.Yep, cut out all that

Long climbouts at high power levels, showing nothing but skyYep, more boring footage.

Redundant circles of the flying area showing the exact same thing as the first circuitYes, if we are going to show our video we should make it interesting. It's going to give us a lot more satisfaction without much more effort. Plan to cover the INTERESTING parts of the scene only, then fly them at different altitudes to increase the interest. Anything that looks of interest from the air then go in a buzz it

Rough air buffeting or wildly panning video that is hard viewingA little is OK, because it is the reality of the flight, but too much jerky video is annoying. So is changing direction too often

MOTOR SOUND. If you don't mute it all together, at least reduce the volume to a very low background sound. Nothing more annoying than starting a video and have the cones blow out of my speakers when the motor throttles up.Yep, keep it to low though rather than none at all (maintains the reality)

I know many don't like to do ANY editing, but even simple free editors can do all these things, and it doesn't take long to do it once you use the editors a few time to get used to the toggles.

Enjoyed that Jumpy! Hey, you were really working the lift from that ploughed field eh?

So this video has a purpose as they all should "working a thermal" And the footage shown is all that's needed. Perhaps a title "Working Thermals" tells the viewer what to look for & realise it's not just to show scenery.

Kev

Thanks!

The lift was light, tight, turbulent and moving around a lot. Probably dust devils without the dust. Just enough to hang on for a little while. Looks like tight turns may not be the best for shooting video....nauseating in fact. I like the ones that require only 10 or 15 degrees bank.. the slow panning video is smoother and easier to watch. That's what I'll be hunting for.

The real funny thing is when non flyers watch. One person asked how I get the plane to fly backward like that...too many Hollywood movies I guess

Oh, as far as sound, I think keeping it in at a very low level, not off, is good (just have to remind myself when editing). I like to hear the airspeed. Dashware should come up with an airspeed gauge based on the wind noise. There are Iphone apps which can supposedly gauge wind speed with the mike. Probably not real accurate but something. Pitot tubes and all that stuff on an rc plane is a bit too much for my taste.
Hope not OT..if so...sorry!

That card has been discussed here more than a couple of times. You can find all the comments by a simple click on the "search this thread" tab, then enter key words "Transcend" and "Class 10". It's a good one.

The real funny thing is when non flyers watch. One person asked how I get the plane to fly backward like that...too many Hollywood movies I guess

Actually I've been looking at that. Tight turns from that viewpoint DO make the plane look as if it is going backwards. This effect could be avoided by mounting the camera against the fuse looking outward along the wing. That way you don't get the nose in the shot, which seems to travel "backward"

Actually I've been looking at that. Tight turns from that viewpoint DO make the plane look as if it is going backwards. This effect could be avoided by mounting the camera against the fuse looking outward along the wing. That way you don't get the nose in the shot, which seems to travel "backward"

Kev

But then I wouldn't see my lovely plane.

Actually, I think the effect would be the same with either camera placement.

The effect is at it's best close to the ground when you are able to keep a point on the ground stationary while rotating around it, pirouetting on a wing. I have a couple of approaches in raw footage with this, will try to upload a sample. Full size planes can do this at a higher altitude than a slower rc plane can.

I found the flle spec info in Apples Quick Time File Format 2001 specification (5.4 MB is too big to post here) and you're right it's constantly updating the headers.. and if they are corrupted.. it's tough to play a file.. also installed a VideoInspector vers 2.2.8 on Majorgeeks.com under Video Tools and it says my .avi's are all Ok and what codec's are installed and what bitrate the files were recorded at etc.. but it seems to choke on .mov's from the No 11's saying the file is valid but it's length is incomplete .. even on .mov files that play fine..

majorgeeks.com has some interesting utilities in the video and multimedia sections but i couldn't find anything Tom that you likely don't already have Sorry..
JimS

I found the flle spec info in Apples Quick Time File Format 2001 specification (5.4 MB is too big to post here) and you're right it's constantly updating the headers.. and if they are corrupted.. it's tough to play a file.. also installed a VideoInspector vers 2.2.8 on Majorgeeks.com under Video Tools and it says my .avi's are all Ok and what codec's are installed and what bitrate the files were recorded at etc.. but it seems to choke on .mov's from the No 11's saying the file is valid but it's length is incomplete .. even on .mov files that play fine..

majorgeeks.com has some interesting utilities in the video and multimedia sections but i couldn't find anything Tom that you likely don't already have Sorry..
JimS

I thnk I was looking at that same file spec! It showed block diagrams of all the key QT movie objects (atoms), and brief descriptions of what they contain and their file heirarchy. I found on a good MOV the top two key atoms are separated... one at the beginning and one at the end. And the data atom key word (mdat) that defines the start of the actual data to be displayed was missing from my corrupted file, as were the other two main atom keys. I tried copying all the hex that is in my corrupted file over the good files "mdat" structure, but the video just gives static sound during that part, and plays the rest OK.

Oh well, not a big deal... I could reshoot the video, but was hoping to find a way to fix corrupted MOV files. The experience did convince me to try to open the flash card holder in my camera and fix the latching mechanism, though. If nothing else, I'll remove the spring that keeps pushing the flash card out so tape has an easier job of holding it in.

FWIW, I use Gspot file contents analysis utility... it reports the #11 MOV data with no complaining.

First, the camera work perfectly. Then I updated the firmware and I wanted to recharge the cam but the red light stays on and it always seems to charge (after connected for several days, I can only turn it on and shoot a few seconds! ) ...

I don't know if there is a connection between the update and the charging problem.